Doug Pederson Has Curious Answer About Play-Calling Blunders in Week 1 Loss

The Jacksonville Jaguars were shutout in the second half against the Miami Dolphins. Some are blaming the play-calling. What does head coach Doug Pederson think?

Aug 23, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson prepares for a game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars had all of the momentum over the Miami Dolphins as time dwindled in teh third quarter. A comfortable 17-7 lead and a promising drive to get another six was lost when Travis Etienne fumbled just yards from a touchdown. The Dolphins recovered and a play later scored.

The Jaguars' loss of momentum cannot be blamed on Etienne alone, however. That would be negligent to the facts. The offensive line struggled late in the game and the play-calling was not as effective as it was in the first half, when the Jaguars scored 17 points.

Lawrence only had seven pass attempts throughout the second half. His most successful targets, who dominant in the first half, were mostly left in the dark.

Rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., the highly touted first-round pick who caught 4 passes for a touchdown and 47 yards while covered by All-Pro Jalen Ramsey, was barely given a look in the second half.

Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson discussed it with reporters on Monday.

"It's really the tale of two halves. Offensively, I felt like in the second half we did some good things in the run game to try to stay ahead, which we did," Pederson said. "But it was nothing in the game plan that took us away from not throwing it to Brian or not throwing it to Gabe [Davis] or Christian [Kirk]. If you go back and look, even look at some of the third downs that we had, they were in unique situations and they were third-and-really long and gave up a couple sacks in those situations too."

The tale of two halves will surely fuel the debate as to who is calling the plays this season -- Pederson or offensive coordinator Press Taylor. Our John Shipley wrote about the suspect play-calling in his Week 1 observations.

"If Doug Pederson doesn't want any more questions about the play-calling then, well, Sunday went as bad as it could have possibly gone," Shipley wrote. "The Jaguars' offense looked fantastic in the first half, with Trevor Lawrence having an efficient half, the run game working, and Brian Thomas Jr. and Gabe Davis both finding holes in the Dolphins' defense. The Jaguars got shut out in the second-half, however, and only had one even semi-positive drive in six chances.

"The Jaguars punted four times, turned it over on fourth-down, and had Travis Etienne fumble the ball in the end zone on a drive that could have put away the game. Pederson and offensive coordinator Press Taylor aren't the ones who fumbled the ball, and they also didn't have key drops like Evan Engram and Christian Kirk. But when the two halves look that different, questions are only going to continue."

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